Wrapping Up June 2021

According to Goodreads, I am two books behind schedule for the total amount of books I want to read this year. The end of June means we’re halfway through the year, and ought to be at least halfway to any year-long reading goals. Are you close to your goals, reading or otherwise?

June has been more productive and calm than I expected. It seems to have been a good thing that I decided not to take a third summer class. Instead, I had time to read two fiction books just because I wanted to (and because there was a fun reading challenge going on). The details about those books and my other monthly bookish highlights are below.

Books Completed This Month

📚 Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter by Timothy Keller; Nonfiction – Theology; ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Review to come

📚 Meg & Jo (The March Sisters #1) by Virginia Kantra; Contemporary Women’s Fiction, retelling of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott ⭐⭐.5

📚 Beth & Amy (The March Sisters #2) by Virginia Kantra; Contemporary Women’s Fiction, retelling of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott ⭐⭐⭐.5

Average Rating: 3⭐s

Books Read (but Not Completed) This Month

📚 Disruptive Witness by Alan Noble; Nonfiction – Theology/Christian Living (reading for the third time)

📚 Americanon: An Unexpected U.S. History in Thirteen Bestselling Books by Jess McHugh; Nonfiction – History, Literature

📚 Jo: A Graphic Novel by Kathleen Gros; Middle grade/YA contemporary fiction retelling of Little Women in graphic novel format

📚 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke; Fantasy

June Goals Follow-Up

Originally posted here

Finish this carryover: Hope in Times of Fear by Timothy Keller ✔
Read this new release: Discernment (Legacy Chronicles #3) by Lauren H. Salisbury
- See more about this book and its release tour here!
Participate in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge by reading one of the following:
- Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra (a modern retelling, sort of?) ✔
- The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper (historical fiction about Louisa’s real-life sister, May, who inspired the character of Amy)
- Jo by Kathleen Gros (graphic novel modern retelling)
- and/or rewatch any of the movie versions of Little Women
Don’t get behind with school ✔
Share a blog post at LEAST once a week, hopefully twice or more ✔
Post on bookstagram 4 times ❌
celebrate my cousin’s wedding (without getting behind on schoolwork) ✔
Enjoy the Summer Reading rush at the library ✔
- Make more fun displays and decorations for this ❌

Other Highlights

Movies Watched: Liliom (1934) ⭐⭐.5; Behold the Earth (2017) ⭐⭐⭐⭐; Judy (2019) ⭐⭐.5; The Booksellers (2020) ⭐⭐⭐.5; Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015) ⭐⭐⭐.5
Music of the Month: I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz this month! Here’s an album I often play in the morning while I get ready for the day.

2021 Reading Challenges (full updates here)
- Goodreads: 29/65
- Continents: 2/7
- States: 5/15
- Classics: 1/6
- Christmas Books: 0/6
- High Priority 2021 TBR: 1/11
Most Liked Post: WWW Wednesday June 16, 2021
Most Commented Post: Spell the Month in Books // June Linkup 2021
The Speaking with Joy podcast is back for the summer! Joy is hosting a (very low-key, low-commitment) book club and reading Piranesi. I’ve started the book, and we’ll see if I’m able to keep close to the pace of the podcast. Also, I found out that one of my undergrad friends has met Joy!? Such a random and cool connection to make.
Summer Reading at the library is halfway over! I can hardly believe it. The program is so different when we can’t have events in the building. At least we have take-home kits, outdoor storytimes, and online programs to fill some of the void.

June has been a good, fairly solid month for me! Summer classes are in gear, and while they do take up a good amount of time, it’s not as much as the classes I took during the last spring semester. This time I still have time to read a few just-for-fun books without feeling guilty, I can type up my blog posts while the sun is still up, and I’m not staying up quite as late to finish assignments, research, or other projects. I do have a group project ongoing for one class which I fear will take much more effort in the latter part of the class than it has so far, but I’m trying not to worry about that yet.

I’m very grateful to Tarissa for hosting the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge! This year it led me to a duology I had been eagerly anticipating, but hadn’t found the right time to read (you can read my review of the books here). Even with only a few others participating, I loved seeing the other posts and hearing about the LMA books others read!

Did you read any good books this month? Are you participating in any summer challenges?

Until the next chapter,

Jana